


The Ravishment

by Aviendha69



Series: Reylo Short Stories and Novellas [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angry Sex, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Make love like war, Menstruation, Not Canon Compliant - Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Reylo-centric, Unprotected Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:02:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24438640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviendha69/pseuds/Aviendha69
Summary: "I didn't think it was possible to botch a rape, and yet here you are, bloody but unspent." Snoke sneered at him.Reylo-centric.Woke up with this, straight from the Id.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey
Series: Reylo Short Stories and Novellas [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1746646
Comments: 21
Kudos: 92
Collections: reylo trash





	The Ravishment

"Supreme Leader, The Raddus has escaped into hyperspace."

"Escaped. Hux's new technology failed." He put Skywalker's lightsaber beside him. 

"Sir, the tracker was disabled from inside this ship. We have an area sealed off and are searching for the perpetrators as we speak."

Snoke sighed. The Resistance was like a swarm of wasp. He turned back to the two standing before him. 

The girl had overheard the information; she looked relieved and even more defiant. There was still the matter of Skywalker to attend to, a small satisfaction. 

The Master looked into her mind some more. She had had time to send a warning to a companion. Just two words : "Get Luke."

He stood. He was tempted to kill her himself, but was loathe to waste her. If he took her as hostage, the Resistance would come for her again, giving them another chance to trace them; Skywalker would surely be with them.

He found something else in her mind, something innocent. He smiled. Humans were sentimental creatures. He would kill two birds with one stone. He looked at Kylo Ren.

"She is the Resistance's Beacon of Light. Extinguish it. Take her."

Silence was broken by a shocked gasp as his apprentice understood his order.

"Supreme Leader, you cannot ask this of me."

"Would you rather I have Hux do it? The guards? The _Knights_?"

Kylo Ren moved forward, sudden rage directed at his Master. He was greeted with punishment. It went on for long seconds.

It was muted through the Bond, but Rey felt his pain. There was no resisting it.

"You have given up your body to me, Apprentice. Now go and break her. Defile her. I want her blood as proof."

*

They were escorted to an empty cell. There was not even a pallet. Kylo Ren stood near the door, his hands aching to find his mask, his face flushed with shame, his body rigid. Revulsion washed off him in waves, alternating with fist-clenching resolve.

Rey looked at him, uncertain as to what had been asked. "Whatever he asked you to do, you don't have to do this", she told him, only half believing it herself.

 _She doesn't even know,_ he thought. He paced in the little space he was trapped in with her.

Snoke had never asked this of him. He had mocked Kylo Ren ruthlessly for even wanting the comfort of women, and Kylo had relented and given up on intimacy. He had even given up on private pleasure, trading it for training and honing his body into a redoubtable weapon instead. 

This was to use his body directly as a weapon. Against a woman. His Knights of Ren must have told Snoke of his refusal to partake in what they considered the spoils of war. They certainly had mocked him a few times, until he'd broken a few bones.

Snoke had found the last spot of Light on his soul. 

He looked at Rey. She stood proud, defiant, confident. He remembered the feel of her cold hands just hours ago. How he'd wanted to bring them to his lips and blow some warmth onto her fingers. He took off his gloves. The alternative was to let guards or Hux, or his _Knights_ get to her instead. He stood transfixed, undecided. 

Rey watched him struggle. _Why is he still in here with me? Why isn't he moving?_ "What's going on? What did he ask you to do?" 

There was pounding on the door, followed by laughter. He didn't have all day. 

There was no lying to Rey. "He wants me to rape you."

Her mouth worked silently for several seconds before she managed to croak a muted " _No_."

"It's me or Hux. Or them," he pointed at the door. The least he could do was to tell her her options. "Or death, I suppose."

Rey had sunk to her knees, crying. There was more pounding on the door. This time Kylo moved and there was a commotion on the other side, followed by a thump and then silence. He didn't know who he had just choked, but they were all quiet now.

Rey wiped her tears and her nose on her sleeve and considered her options. "Right then, let's get on with it."

" _What_?" He was stupefied.

She had no time to dwell on it or she would lose her nerve: he was the devil she knew, she would rather be hurt by him than by anyone else. Besides, he didn't look too happy about it, whereas the guards had been laughing in anticipation if he failed at his task. 

"Don't tell me you've never done this before!-

\- I haven't, I don't do this...this-

\- Well you're doing it now. C'mon! " She walked over to him and slapped him. Hard. She would lose this struggle, but at least she wouldn't go down without a fight. She did have a Darkness in her, and she would use it now to make it through this trial. She punched his chest. 

Any romantic notions he might have entertained of long hours of lovemaking were quickly dispelled. He seized her wrist, twisting her arm until she was back to him. She struggled, kicking his shin and he pushed her down on the cold white tile, where he knelt behind her. He found the seam between her tunic and legging and grasped the hem, taking a deep breath to steady himself before ripping it over her buttocks and down to her knees. 

She was so thin, so scrawny, she barely had the shape of a woman at all. His body balked at the task. He closed his eyes and tried to think of her when she was strong, when she had beat him on starkiller base: the thrill of meeting her as an equal.

She was trying to twist onto her back but he knew he couldn't face her. He pushed her completely down to lie on the floor and shoved his own trousers down. He was only half hard but maybe it would be enough. He palmed himself while he caressed the small of her back and her cheeks some, to at least wake up some primordial instinct, then he lay on top of her, to smell the musk of her hair. She was shaking, her breath coming in short and fast, but she was silent. He reached between her legs to find her entrance and she jerked under him. He found warm moisture there. _That's not possible,_ he thought. His fingers came up bloody, it was her period. Which meant Snoke would have his proof. He pulled back some.

"Ren" she said firmly, "don't fake it. He'll know. It's you or death." 

That statement moved him. The Ren would injure her, maybe kill her. He put his cockhead to her vulva, sliding up and down to at least get some lubrication, then he whispered: "This will hurt. Ready?"

She nodded. He pushed in. He felt layer after layer of resistance give in, her muscles clenching in a vain effort at refusing him.

She squirmed. The pain became terrible and she hissed between clenched teeth; he stopped. She felt confused emotions coming from him: a mixture of pleasure and heartbreak. She swallowed her pride, took a deep breath and nudged him, and he continued his penetration. When he was hilted, he paused, and for a moment, there was a feeling of wonder on both ends of their Bond. 

He leaned in and kissed the back of her head, then gently pulled out. It was enough: he'd breached her, he had his bloody proof, he could do no more. He kneeled back and pulled up his clothing. She pushed herself up and did the same. There was blood on the white tile. 

Neither felt shame. Snoke would not be pleased. "What now?" Rey asked. "You're our hostage, for now" he replied. 

*

"I didn't think it was possible to botch a rape, yet here you are, bloody but unspent." Snoke sneered at him. Kylo Ren had never been closer to rebelling against him as now, but the young man was still useful to him. Maybe he would turn this powerful girl to the Dark Side after all. Then he could choose between them who would serve him best. 

*

In the fresher, Kylo Ren looked at the blood on his fingers, then raised them to his face, smelling the iron tang before tasting it, eyes closed. He stepped into the shower. His pubis was matted with it, pulling at his hair painfully where it had dried. He watched silently as her blood washed from him into the drain. Somehow, the theft had become a gift. 

**

She was moved to better quarters, if still locked in. There was a viewport to the stars, at least, and a bed and amenities. Books. Fruits in a basket. Tea. She made for the fresher. No amount of washing and rinsing could take the feeling away. A medical officer came by, examined her. Gave her a shot of vaccines and some vitamin boost. A week went by. A week later, and she still felt him inside her. 

No stormtrooper came to bother her. She never saw the man Hux Snoke had threatened to send to her. It was as if Kylo Ren had marked her, and it was enough to keep others away. She started feeling relatively safe. Then bored. When the Force connected them again, it was almost a relief. 

He looked up from the drawings on his desk. He almost smiled, then schooled his face. Still, she had seen it. "Thank you for the books," she said. 

He nodded. "The people who sabotaged our tracking system made if off ship." Telling her was a small gesture of goodwill for what he had done to her. 

"Thank you, Ben. When will I see you again?" She hadn't meant to say that out loud, but she was going stir-crazy in her little room. 

"What?" 

"You said I need a teacher?" That made more sense. A scavenger always found a way to profit from any situation. 

**

"Teach her. Then take her again. Completely this time." Snoke laughed. Kylo felt like a toy. 

**

He brought her to the training arena and taught her Force-Rage so she could beat him again when they sparred. When she did, he told her the other half of the bargain. That shook the Rage right out of her. 

"Again?"

"He wasn't fooled. Not completely."

"You think he can see us?" Rey recoiled at the thought. If that monster could see them, she thought she _would_ choose death. 

"No, we'd know. He picked that up directly from me."

"What would make him "happy", then?"

She truly didn't know. "Haven't you been with _any_ boys? At _all_?" he asked her. He was going to _lose_ it. 

"Well, sure, but we didn't...I mean, there are _risks._ Oh." 

Oh. _Wait_. Supreme Leader Snoke couldn't possibly mean for him to ...

"I'm going to the medic. Now." He turned heel and walked out. 

He didn't come back the same day. 

She lay on her cot, playing the day's training in her mind. He'd let her beat him, she was sure of it. He'd given her the name of that energy she had used on Starkiller base: Force-Rage. He'd warned her as well: abusing the ability exposed her to losing her connection to the Light. Permanently. She might turn to the Dark without even knowing it.

Why had he warned her? 

She'd lived a simple life on Jakku. With simple problems that had simple solutions. Simple pleasures. Now, she had fallen in with people who's every action she witnessed had momentous consequences on the Galaxy. Heroes and Villains, legends and demi-gods. World-destroying technology. The _Force_. 

Now she had been pushed up against the villains, one of whom was also the son of one of the heroes. What _was_ her part in this story?

Snoke had thought to crush them both by forcing Kylo Ren to breach the trust that was growing between them. He'd thought the act would ruin something inside her: some pride or fragility, or some faith like the Jedi's code of honor. She had taken no such oath. 

He'd also wanted to _hurt_ Kylo Ren with the same blow: the man was as upset by the task as she was. What had Kylo Ren answered his Master ? " _You cannot ask this of me_."

He was not _that kind_ of monster. That had to mean something. 

Snoke was not completely fooled. But he still thought he could break them. 

**

The medic injected him with a prev-pellet, barely keeping an amused look from her face. How very responsible of the Jedi-killer to not impregnate the Jedi he was expected to rape. Repeatedly, apparently. Luke must be laughing at him. No. Luke would not laugh. But Snoke had. 

Rey had cooperated with him. He was still shocked by that fact. And she was not angry with him now. Somehow, he had managed to _not_ hurt her. Where Snoke had thought to provoke a clean break, he had merely bridged a gap between them. If he had decided not to send Hux or some other to hurt her, it meant he had decided to play some longer game, then. Kylo thought he would have a better idea what it was if Snoke reproached him his use of contraception. Come to think of it, if the Master _did_ decide to send someone else to do "the job", _Rey_ should be the one protected. He told the Medic. She looked at him for a moment, then nodded. 

**

The medic woke Rey up bright and early the next morning with breakfast, information and a thick syringe. The officer seemed relieved. Rey asked her why. "You don't look very traumatized by the experience, and this precaution means he cares about you. This is a good thing." 

_He cares about me._

**

They met for training and she was hard at work right away. For one thing, being cooped up all day was driving her mad. For another, hitting Kylo Ren made her feel empowered. Lastly, she would need that confidence for what would necessarily come next. So Rey pushed hard. 

She was surprisingly strong, and capable of taking a lot more damage than he had originally thought. She was dealing more damage, too, not holding back _at all_ , and he realized that this duel was as much training as it was preparation for her. He could feel waves of Dark fury roll off her, and they were colored with something akin to desire. He himself was starting to feel that dark desire and by the time the play was out, he was hard and ready.

He threw down his sword and picked her up, and she bit his arm hard and before long they were kneeling on a padded mat, ripping clothes off while she continued to bite and claw at him, pulling at his hair or pinching him where she could reach him. He was behind her again, needing an inner beast to carry him through. He grabbed a handful of hair and held her down while he spread her knees and made his way between them. She crouched before him on all fours, sweaty, disheveled and a flush over her bare back. She had pink welts to match his on her sides and buttocks.

He leaned forward and cupped a breast, his manhood tucking itself in the cleft between her cheeks. The nipple was hard and she shivered when he pinched it lightly where it peeked between fingers. He let his hand roam to her mound to again find her entrance and this time she _was_ wet and he was taken by a full-body shudder. He spread the moisture on himself before he pushed himself in, just barely refraining from ripping into her: it felt like pushing into hot coals. She let out a long moan that ended almost like a howl. 

She took it all in and he drove into her, unable to control himself anymore. For a minute there was nothing but the smash of bodies. Then he became aware that he was hurting her and started to slow down but she turned to give him a furious look and a loud _smack!_ on his thigh that pushed him over the edge. _Years_ of restraint came pouring out of him and he roared his release. When the last spasm shook him, he became so light-headed he almost fell, dazed. He pulled out and lay on his side then, panting and flushed. She lay with him and he immediately pulled her close and spooned her. He whispered an apology only she could hear.

She was hurt but it was done: now their Bond was forged in flesh. For a moment, they rested. When he could stand again, he saw that she couldn't. He felt a pang of guilt but she just shook her head and tried to get up again. He wrapped her in his cloak and picked her up, and carried her to the infirmary. Troopers and staff alike rushed out of his way. At the Medical bay, the Officer barked at him to put her down, then kicked him out. "File your report," he told her, and she witnessed the look that passed between Rey and him. 

*

"Multiple welts and bruises, multiple internal scrapes and bruising. _Copious_ amounts of semen." Snoke read the report with obvious glee. "A cracked rib! I'm impressed. Let's see _you_ now. What did she do to _you_?" 

Kylo Ren hesitated, then partly disrobed: he had welts, bruises and more than a few scratches as well as some bitemarks. 

"Good, good. And how did you feel, doing it?"

"I hated it."

"Even better, you can do this every week from now on until -

"I fail to see the purpose of this viole-

-until one of you is either dead or pregnant." 

Silence. _Dead_ silence. 

"My dear Apprentice, once she is impregnated with your seed we can send her home to your dear mother. That'll kick the hornet's nest, and you need never doubt your place with me again. Unless someone dies first. That would be a waste, but only the strong will survive."

"I see. I know what I have to do."

"Indeed. Do not disappoint me. And remove the contraceptives. Both."

*

The Knights were waiting for him when he walked out. One sniggered. At random, he Force-Pushed one into a bulwark. Hard. The others were silent after that. 

*

"Back so soon, Kylo Ren?" The medical officer _was_ upset with him now. 

"How is she doing?"

"You didn't permanently damage any vital organs, if that's what you're asking." The older woman reminded him of his mother. 

"Right. But how is she feeling?"

The medic caught his tone. "She's still sedated. She cried most of yesterday, not so much today. She's resilient, I'll give her that. I haven't told her yet."

"Told her what?"

"About Snoke's order to remove the contraceptives." 

_I am in Hell,_ he thought. He stood with chin in hand, pensive.

"I can "exaggerate" a few reports. But if he sees her he'll know..." the medic trailed off. 

"If she asks to see me, I will come immediately." It was the most he could hope for, and the least he could offer.

*

He had few options: Help her escape was the top one. Escape with her. Kill Snoke, then help her escape. Get her pregnant and run away with her. His heart beat wildly at that last one, but then reason took over again.

Running away was impossible: he had nowhere to go that the First Order could not find him.

Kill Snoke: that was damn _near_ impossible. 

Help her escape: was he ready to sacrifice himself for this girl? He could at least plan something.

Do as Snoke demanded. It was cowardly, but it would get her back to the Resistance. And she could...abort the child. The thought stabbed at his heart.

*

On the bridge, Hux offered to have some flowers sent to his "girlfriend". He wasn't even joking. "She'd kill _me_ for sure," he offered by way of an explanation, "I saw what she did to you." 

That explained why she had been left relatively safe. He felt almost proud of her strength. Only the Knights would have any chance at her. And then some would die. He would push her training to make her near invincible. He had less than a month to figure things out. 

*

The comm rang in the middle of the night, and he was there in minutes. Though she limped, she was calm and composed on the way to her new quarters - he had annexed the room next to his. It was arranged in a similar way, but a door connected them. She was quiet. He sat with her, waiting for her cue. 

"We're fucked" she finally said. 

He said nothing. 

*

The rest of the week passed and it came time to "perform" again. By then, they had shared meals, and trained again - cautiously - and he had shared budding plans with her. She reached for his hand across the table and held it.

Ben Solo was still in there.

"Does it have to hurt?" she asked him. 

*

He thought of many things he could do to make things easier, blushing. "Why don't you take the lead?" he offered.

She got up from the table, still holding his hand, and sat on his lap, straddling him. He looked away, embarrassed. She put a hand on his chest. His heart beat wildly and she came to understand that as much as physical pain had been meant to break her spirit, tender affection would free his. It was what she had felt through the Bond, why she has set on this journey to meet him. To reach him. Touching him, she found numerous scars on him and he acknowledged many had come from Snoke. "The Supreme Leader is very demanding. He expects much from me. The very best." There was a sing-song quality to the way he told her this, like one recites a litany. 

She took his head in her hands, forced him to look at her and it was as terribly intimate to him as his taking of her body had been. What had Snoke done to him? She ran her fingers over his face, traced the terrible scar over his cheek: she felt a thrill of victory then, felt an echo of pride from him: he had been marked by a Being of Light, he had found _her_. She leaned down to kiss his eyes and he kept them closed after, preferring the vulnerability of his body to that of his soul. Perfectly still under her, his face impassive while his heart pound wildly, his hands hovering in mid-air, she felt him go into a kind of trance. He was breathing deeply, hiding in some safe place within himself. He was gone.

She could, she suppose, profit from his passivity to explore this terrible body who had taken hers and hurt her badly. She thought she could probably hurt him now, stab him with breakfast cutlery and he would offer no resistance to her, merely accept it as his due. She kissed his lips and there was no reaction. He was frozen, as if in shock. 

_Oh Leia,_ she thought, _your son is broken._

She thought of Luke, of what she had learned from him. She thought he must be safe, or she'd heard about it. Surely with the Resistance right now. Trying to find a way to get her back. She looked at Kylo Ren whom she held in her hands right now. 

He felt her shift and when he opened his eyes again, she had curled up in his lap, head on his shoulder. He embraced her and just held her, feeling like he was comforting her, somehow. 

*

By evening she had worked her up courage again, and he his. When she kissed him, he responded in kind, and he managed to stay present as she explored his body. He wouldn't touch her, though. 

They were laying in his bed and she decided it was time to straddle him again. He let her, and she put his hands on her hips, demanding some gentle caress, and he understood and stroked her gently where he could reach her. Before she could take him in, he took her hand and put it on her mound. "You must know this, how to ... please yourself?" he asked.

She nodded, but, it was not something she thought could be shared. "It would certainly not hurt", he told her, reminding her of her earlier request. Sitting atop him, straddling his erection, she began to rub herself, and to the usual pleasure she knew how to find was the promise of fullness she had never found by herself, right there underneath her, ready to be taken when her body started to heave with want. 

He let himself be everything she wanted. Lips to kiss, tongue to tease, hands to caress. He felt her warm and throb and eventually soak him with desire and saw her flush and shiver. Her movements became erratic and when she picked him up to take him in, he felt poised on the edge of a cliff, about to take flight. She lifted herself up and pushed him in, everything in her pulsing and hot, and he gritted his teeth, holding back. What he felt washing off her then was incredible, pain pushed out by surprised pleasure. Immense pleasure. And when she moved, all the pleasure. She climaxed and it was another surprise, and he let himself join her. 

She fell on him and he held her close. He felt joy for the first time in years. 

**

The Island on Ahch-to was deserted, as expected. His Knights kicked a few nuns around until he stopped them. The great Jedi tree had burned to the ground, a surprising act for his uncle. When he walked into the temple proper and saw the Prime Jedi mosaic, he was strangely moved, understanding something profound. There was an image of balance. In unity, not in opposition. He thought of Snoke and Luke: at war.

Then he thought of Rey and himself: finding peace.

*

In the afternoon, Snoke summoned him.

"He burned the Uneti tree before he left. I don't know why he would do that" he told his Master.

"To deny you the satisfaction of burning it yourself, no doubt." Snoke spoke in a susurration, coiled like a snake ready to strike his prey. 

Kylo was doubtful, but he kept silent. 

"Speaking of satisfaction, how goes that other task?"

Kylo braced himself, there was no good answer here. "It's too soon to know."

"And how do you feel about it now?"

In a near panic, Kylo schooled himself to reply with the most logical answer he could give: "Pleasure. I feel pleasure."

There was no way around that. He could not release his seed without pleasure. 

"I knew such an act of abject domination would please you. When I forbade you sex, I meant romantic sex. Now you see why."

"Yes, I see now, Supreme Leader. You are wise."

"And how is the girl doing?" The monster leaned close, inhaling the air around him, to pick up his pheromones. 

Would this interrogation never end? "Master Luke is with the Resistance, now?"

" _Master_ Luke? Did you just call that Jedi-wannabe Master, _in my presence_?" 

Lightning flashed towards Kylo Ren. He was picked up and thrown about several times. 

He was allowed to catch his breath before he limped out of the throne room. 

*

He had managed to lie to Snoke, or at least confound him enough he thought he was still hurting Rey. He had managed to divert the monster's attention by enraging him. He had never done that before. 

They trained harder than ever. Everything he could think of, everything he could remember from his days with Luke, he shared with her, and through their bond, she picked it up with supernatural speed; Force-abilities and fighting forms alike. 

By the end of that week, she was sleeping in his bed, and he had become enamored of her. Enough to please her. Enough to kneel before her and please her with his tongue. Enough to make her moan and call his name.

And then one night he called her name as he spilled into her. 

*

Her period came again and he didn't know how to feel about it. Neither did she. One thing was certain, if she escaped now, she would bear only minimal consequences of this whole experience: no burden for her, no heartbreaking abortion for him. He thought he should tell her. 

They sat in silence. Snoke would summon him soon to explain his failure. The medic had prepared a report stating that they had missed a window of opportunity, and in any case, violence was counterproductive. 

They had two weeks for her to make a safe escape. After that, either he would hold back his seed, or ... or he would make a commitment. 

"Escape _with_ me" she asked him. He was tempted. But where would they _go_? The Resistance would put him on trial and execute him. Even if Rey was not dedicated to the Cause and they ran away to hide in some Outer Rim system, they could do no better than eek out a living lest they be identified; they would eventually be found by one warring faction or the other. 

"Escape while I divert the Supreme Leader's attention" he told her. But she shook her head, _no_. 

*

Snoke looked at his apprentice curiously. He had read the report, and was finding it hard to find fault with the young man kneeling before him. Relief and frustration emanated from Kylo Ren, it was hard to tell the source of either feeling. There were other, softer feelings emanating from him as well.

The boy had grown attached to the girl, and he supposed, both being young humans, it could not be helped. What mattered was that he had successfully submitted her. He wondered if he should change his plans. Keep the girl and an eventual child as hostages that would keep his _apprentice_ in line for _years_. Send one back, but not the other. Force his apprentice to kill the child himself, then make a new one. The cruelty of that scenario surprised even him. He smiled wickedly. He had a few months before that would be feasible; for now, there was no child to sacrifice, despite the "copious amounts of semen" produced. In any case, it was time to punish the failure. 

Kylo Ren staggered out of the throne room again. Snoke had accepted the Med Officer's recommendation that a gentler touch would improve chances of a successful implantation. 

If he failed again artificial insemination would be used. As Kylo regained his composure, he perceived that his Master's intentions towards them had taken an even darker turn. He was not sure what. He was sure he didn't want to find out. 

*

The next week was a blur of meetings with Hux and other high ranking officers followed by raids on just-abandoned Resistance camps, sparring matches with his Knights - that helped relieve the stress, thankfully - training with Rey, and frantic coupling every chance they got. One after the other, escape plans fell through and two attempts were thwarted with them just barely making it back to safety before getting caught. At the same time, Rey started leading him into all kinds of maintenance corridors and passages and cubbyholes he had never known existed, as if a whole other ship existed in parallel to the one he usually marched in. "These ships are all made the same," she told him. "So unoriginal." While hiding in such a cubbyhole as armed troops ran by looking for "a disturbance" - he heard her giggle and that made him laugh; and then he knew he was in love. 

Only a few days of safety were left. If she was not off this ship by next week, separation would become unbearable. Which meant he would have to die to save her. If he could get her off the ship, she had to have a place to go to meet up with the Resistance. She would have maybe hours before the First Order caught up with her. A secret meeting place, where a discreet ship, crewed or not, would wait, or even a note with another Rendez-vous point - stashed somewhere she could easily find - was all she needed.

He had to contact the Resistance himself. Rey and he were stronger when they worked together. He tried to initiate a Force-bond while they were both in the same room, holding hands. 

It took immense effort. When they opened their eyes to look around them it was as if they were seeing double, as if through a looking-glass. They concentrated on reaching Luke. They sent only a pulse of Force, like a single desperate heartbeat. Much was contained in that pulse: that they were together, that they needed help. 

A few hours later, the pulse was answered. 

He told Rey of the location of the Jedi school he had destroyed. It was one of the two places he could think of to meet Luke. The other was Ahch-To.

*

There were several incidences of Resistance fighters flitting in and out of sight around the fleet over the next days. Like a swarm of gnats, exactly as had been predicted. A few were shot down, none managed to board. 

They were escorted everywhere now. "As befitted his current status" the Knights had informed him.

Then, her time came. 

"You don't have to keep it" he reminded her, voice cracking. "Just long enough he sends you back like some ... spoiled icon. He doesn't know your true worth. He can't imagine it." 

"Ben," she said, " _life_ is the ultimate rebellion."

It was a thing of wonder, laying on top of her, enfolded in her limbs, held within her body. Looking into her eyes, he saw she promised him a future. He thought of his mother; even if he died now, his mother would love this child. His child. He only had to kill the Supreme Leader. 

*

The test came back positive within the week and they were both summoned before his Master. 

He looked at the scavenger: she had gained weight and muscle mass, there was not a scratch on her; she was as confident as ever. His apprentice had failed to break her. He had not "submitted her" as he had claimed. He had submitted _to_ her. 

"Well done," he said sarcastically, "your seed is strong. When this one is born, you can make another one."

"How- " Then Kylo had a sudden flash of insight into Snoke's mind. There was no releasing her to the Resistance, ever. He saw the _sacrifice_ that his Master envisioned at the end of the year. The cruelty was beyond breathtaking. It was spirit-crushing. There was only eternal torment, for her and for him. They were better off dead. 

His eyes flicked again to the Skywalker lightsaber Snoke kept by his side, as a trophy. 

He raised his hand, fingers curled into a loose fist "This child will have immense potential, Supreme Leader. Once turned," he turned his wrist, an uncharacteristically demonstrative gesture for him, "think of how your could educate it right from the start. You could have a whole cohort of such powerful younglings." Rey swore viciously, held down kneeling before him. 

Snoke looked at him, bemused at his unusual verbosity.

"Think of wielding the Skywalker power, like a weapon!" He clenched his fist in a sudden, final gesture. 

The Light-saber on the armrest ignited in a blue ray that traversed Snoke. A flick of the wrist, and it came forward, cutting him in half. Rey's arm shot up, catching the bright blade.The old Monster's features contorted in surprise, but not a sound escaped his lips; he simply slid forward, hitting the ground with a loud thump. Rey stood. Emotion had shifted from betrayal of her to betrayal of Snoke in a flash. Ben looked at her, at the eight Praetorian guards, back at her. She nodded. They turned back to back. 

What followed was a blur of blades and a dance of forms. Weeks of training with Ren had doubled her ability, Rage let her crush guard's helms on their heads, blinding three. A hit on her arm only gave her more power to push another assailant into an energy well, where the electrical energy shredded him instantly. A stray electro-blade flew into the wall covering, igniting the crimson curtain. 

Ben was filled with another Force: hope. They would survive this fight. He could see all around him and could shield her from attacks he could only sense behind him. He was cool and composed, Running through then pushing a guard off the edge of the platform. She was roaring a battle-cry, goading the next guard into a risky attack that cost him an arm, then a leg. One by one, they killed the red guards.

Silence fell at last. All around them was death, destruction and fire. The Supreme Leader Snoke was dead. The First Order was decapitated. 

A military might as great as the former Empire was adrift in the Galaxy. Whomever claimed control of it would continue its mission as if nothing had changed. Someone like Hux. Or Pryde. 

"Rey, take Snoke's escape shuttle. Now. Get out of here." 

"What- Ben, you're coming with me."

"I'm not. Someone has to lead the First Order. You can't stay here. Go. _Please_." 

"Ben" She was crying. She looked at the legacy saber she held in her hand. She put her other hand over her womb. Then she looked up at him, grim determination clear in her eyes. "You come back to me, Ben Solo. To us."

"I will," he promised.

And she was gone. 


End file.
